Aston Villa have reached an agreement with the tax authorities to stave off the immediate threat of administration.
We have been told HMRC are content with an arrangement whereby the club pays £1.2m by the end of this week – around half of the money it owes in unpaid tax – after an immediate payment of £500,000 was made earlier on Wednesday.
As a result, HMRC has shelved its plans to issue legal proceedings against Villa, via a winding up order in the High Court.